SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — There's nothing like cooling off at the pool during the summertime in Arizona. It's something everyone enjoys. Even cougars.
On Tuesday night, Kathy Binke, who lives north of McDowell Peak in far north Scottsdale, noticed something moving in her backyard. Looking out her window, she noticed a massive mountain lion taking big gulps of water from her pool.
At one point, the cougar locked eyes with her but kept drinking.
She took a video of the interaction and showed it to her neighbors, wanting to warn them of what she had just witnessed.
“I’m like, 'That’s big. That’s a big nasty kitty cat,'” Kimberly Weeldreyer, one of those neighbors, said.
Weeldreyer's concern immediately turned to her two dogs. She was worried about if they would be okay going outside and not knowing where the mountain lion was prowling.
“If I’m going to enjoy my pool, I’m going to have to keep one eye open, one eye closed,” Weeldreyer said.
The video also surprised the president of Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium, Kristy Hayden.
“I was blown away,” Hayden said.
“Typically, when you see mountain lions, they’re such an elusive species, even reclusive from humans, so oftentimes the footage you see is them running or they aren’t clear," she said.
Hayden said mountain lions typically hunt at night. During the day, especially in summer, they hunker down and find a cool resting spot.
It's also very rare to see a mountain lion out in the open, but Hayden said with developments happening all over the valley, cougar sightings are becoming more common.
“Especially on those parts of the valley that are more on the outskirts that are more in the wild," Hayden said.
If someone comes face to face with a mountain lion out in nature, Hayden said you should never turn around and try to run.
That could trigger the cougar's instinct to chase after someone and attack. Instead, she recommends keeping eye contact with the big cat and try to make yourself look as big as possible to scare it off.
Hayden also recommends that those who come in contact with a mountain lion contact Arizona Game and Fish so they can track its whereabouts.
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